V-Twelve | Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Heady with a aromatic fruity start and taste, this amber ale features hints of pear and apricot in its well-nuanced flavor. The initial impression of fruitiness concludes in a refreshing dryness that begs you to sip again. Be fore- warned, this ale is immense as it registers 12% abv.

Reviews by lifeboyq:

Poured a bomber into a St Bernardus goblet. Head is one inch thick a creamy white, decent lacing as it subsides. Average head retention. The nose is of light malts and sucrose with way too many high alpha hops coming through presented in citrus and pine.

There are two ways to review this beer... One against what it should be to the style and the other just as a general beer. Both, in my opinion fall short of what it should for the style and as a beer but then again, I'm biased to overly hopped beers especially when the style just isnt meant for this level of IBU. In my opinion, there is too much refined sugar used to get up the IBU which should be reduced slightly and presented more in other adjunct or malt for complexity. It is a very straight forward malt profile built on light malts. I dont mind the 'hotness' that comes through on the tongue which may be offputting to others. This is really a malty imperial tripel if there was such a thing and falls short of many in the style. However; I'd rather have this over any IPA. If you like an over hopped American Belgian that packs a lot of punch this is the beer for you. It doesnt have the complexity or balance to rival the most complex category of beer on the planet.

More User Reviews:

Liquid luxury - as advertised! Let it warm up to truly enjoy.
Very little foam/lacing. Smell is a mix of molasses, banana bread, sweet dates, and brown sugar. Taste follows with a nice caramel malt finish. Feel is a bit slick - could use more carbonation.
Overall an excellent offering from Victory! I didn't share...

Very good flavor. Light and fruity like others have said. I didnt taste any banana. Very drinkable with no alcohol taste, but with 12% abv it sneaks up on you pretty quick. At $7.99 a bottle its a great deal.

Just had this in parking lot at work with a good friend. In a styro cup no less! If it is any better in any kind of glass, I'm in deep trouble. It was absolutely great! Smooth, no alcohol taste or burn. Caramel and figs. Will buy again to drink and to cellar.

A- Poured from a caged and corked bottle to a tulip glass. Dark, rich amber coloration with a finger length of beige head at the top.

Smell- Wow, you can smell it from the moment you uncork it. Tons of fruits, clove, cinnamon and spices.

Taste- Very, very sweet. Follows the nose with a huge, beautiful burst of fruity flavors and spices. Absolutely outstanding if you like the sweet flavors of quads, with just a slight kick of alcohol on the finish.

Feel- Medium body, slight carbonation

Overall- All I can say is wow... This has taken the spot as my new favorite beer, out of everything I have tried over my year of tasting craft offerings. The sweetness might be offputting for some, but then again, that's what comes with the style.

A: Pours a semi-clear copper color - very atypical for a quad. The head is two fingers high, and off-white in shade. Retention is pretty good for 12%, but the texture is rougher than others in the style. There are some streaks of lacing left on the glass.

S: The nose is appropriately big. It features both big fruits (lighter ones like cherry, rather than dark fruits) and a healthy bread-laden backbone. Also decently spicy in spurts. Victory is never afraid to hop a beer well, and I'm thankful for it: the herbal and even citrusy notes balance out the lighter malt/fruit quite well. Aromatically, it isn't much like a quad - it's more like Duvel on steroids. That's a very good thing, though.

T: It's somewhat hoppy at first. The light, herbal hop notes bring memories of Rochefort 10 (though this has a bit more black pepper and a bit less tobacco - that, and the malt construct is a whole different beast altogether). While there are some pleasant lighter fruit flavors (cherry, orange, and grapefruit), the spiciness is what dominates. Victory has restrained the yeastiness nicely, as well. It doesn't seem as bready as its Belgian counterparts, but it also achieves a level of cohesion and harmony lacking in the 'Murican ones. Combined with the mild notes of caramel malt, it creates a brew that's both reasonably complex and nicely balanced - it just isn't very quad-like, that's all.

M: The first few sips seem a touch boozy. Afterwards, they don't seem boozy at all. It's still telling me it's a strong, sipping beer (especially with the full-body warming sensation), just not a needlessly alcoholic one. Carbonation is about what I'd expect, decently powerful yet soft.

O: This would be one of the best 'Murican-made quads on the market...if it were a quad to begin with. To me, this seems closer to a big-ass grand cru or even a massive saison. Yeah, I said it. It's dry enough, spicy enough, and *just* light enough where if Victory called it an imperial saison, I wouldn't be too upset. Still, its high level of quality combined with its respectable price point makes it a winner, no matter what style it is.

I dont drink alot of Quads only on certain occasions,CHRISTmas is one of those occasions.Poured into an oversized wine glass a deep auburn color with a creamy thinner off white head that left patchy lace behind as it settled rather slowly.Aromas of raisin/prune,roasted nuts,brown sugar,and slight phenolic spice with alcohol that creeps.Flavors are like an alcohol dipped holiday fruit cake,its full of dark fruit with notes of a nutty port,a sweet cake-like flavor lingers as well.The alcohol with hit ya but it wont punch ya,a nice holiday-type flavor to it although not intended,maybe a litle early to drink this today....zzz.

Appearance  Head? You gotta be kidding. After almost throwing my arm out I got a little foam but it went down faster than Courtney Love at a rock concert. The huge ABV killed all chances of a head for this Quad.

The body itself is pure liquid gold. It is an amazingly brilliant orange in color and crystal clear. I could find my way through a cave with this beer.

Smell  Liquid sugar and alcohol best sums up this big fella. The malts are dark and even a bit yeasty. The sweet aroma of orange syrup runs this show, though. The alcohol is big but actually very easy on the nose.

Taste  The orange syrup liqueur is in force at the taste. The toasty malts and light yeast give this one some good complexity. The sugary flavors though run away with it. I really enjoyed the even keel that Victory manages to keep on a beer with so much sugar and so much alcohol.

Mouthfeel  I can barely pick up the 12% warming of this high-octane medium to full-bodied Quad. This is lip-smacking sticky sugars meets ultra-smooth triple sec in the mouth.

Drinkability  Im almost ashamed to say how easily I downed this bottle of 3+ ounces of pure alcohol (750ml * 12% ABV). I drank this seven months from the bottling date. This is not one to age. It is broken down and ready to drink, probably the day after its bottled.

Comments  A huge thanks to GeoffFromSJ for sending me this gem from one of my favorite breweries. I had this to celebrate a new job that Im starting on Monday. Cheers to BA!

Update 04/25/17 – 12 years later I guess it’s time to re-review the V-12. I found this in a grocery store of all places and noticed right away that the V-Twelve has been renamed the V-12. Otherwise not much has changed. This is big and boozy, flirting with major style violations, but not a bad ale. For the price though I’d recommend finding another.

Pours a surprisingly light apple juice color, no lace to speak of. Smells of bready malts and bananas. Taste is lovely, bready and spicy, with some banana and other flavors (which are beyond my ability to identify, but like though). Mouthfeel is a bit syrupy, and is a bit too fizzy for my tastes, although that recedes as the beer warms. As the bottle states, this is sheer liquid luxury.

Overall, this is a very nice quadrupel. Very warming and soothing on a cold, blustery winter's night. Quite drinkable, in fact, considering the high ABV. This one really hit the spot.

750ml bottle served in a snifter. The beer was a dark amber color with a small white head. It had an aroma of cotton candy. A more complex taste consisting of candy, fruit, and some late hops. It got better as it warmed. Now that Victory is here in Maine, I will be looking for this beer.

T- Taste of dark of prunes hits you right in beginning. The prunes turn into a hint of molasses with a delicious segue of ripe peach before it finishes with a canadian whiskey-like butteriness. And finally the taste culminates with the subtle mixture of alcohol and the resin of european hops. The aftertaste that lingers is one of molasses and hops.

M- High carbonation blends well with its slight syrupy thickness. The alcohol leaves a nice warmth in the back of your throat.

D-Dangerously drinkable. You feel the alcohol, but it definitely does not taste like a typical Belgian Quad so beware.

Very nice orangish-amber color with nice beige head, and left nice lace on the glass. This beer was almost "pretty", which I acknowledge is an odd description for a beer or ale. Decent to good foam retention. Very malty per the style, possibly a little TOO sweet but not cloyingly so. The ABV is quite high and the alcohol was noticeable in the taste. I generally don't want to taste the alcohol in my beer but it was not overwhelming so I did not let it detract too much from my taste score. The biscuity flavor of the malts more than compensated for the strong alcohol presence. Not a strong hop presence at all.
Disclaimer: I'm not adept of adequately judging mouthfeel so I'm not sure if my score is accurate. As long as it doesn't give the impression of witch hazel or used motor oil in my mouth, I rate mouthfeel 4 or more.
I recommend it and will have it again.
(poured from a big bottle)

750 ml bottle, caged and corked - dated 8/10/06. Pours a golden copper with a big dense fluffy white head that retains well and laces the glass. Bottle conditioned with lots of yeasties at the bottom of the bottle.

The aroma is musty yeast, bready dough, pears, and some cola-like spices.

The flavor is sweet sugary malts, followed by some peppery yeasty spices, a little pear and apple and a bit of alcohol with a bitter almost tar-like finish. Normally I don't care for the sweetness and alcohol, but this is well done and balanced well. The mouthfeel is medium to full and creamy with ample but not harsh carbonation. It's a little on the syrupy side.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 750ml bottle into a tulip glass. The bottle is labeled with its ABV% (12.0%) and a bottled on date of "Sep 18 2009".

Appearance: It has a hazy orange amber colored body which was a little lighter than I had expected. With in it there are some small bits of yeast sediment floating around. On top the head which started out at about two finger tall settles down to just a light ring of foam around the edge of the glass. Lacing is very slick and slippery.

Smell: Wow, this one lets you know right away that it's a big serious beer. The aroma has big boozy character with strong fruity/estery yeast notes reminiscent of raisons and stone fruits.

Taste/Palate: Again wow, there is some warmth here from the abv but it's not harsh. It just adds a warm slow sipping character to the overall picture with also brings good estery yeast, sweet malt and light hops. I get notes of apricot, peaches, golden raisons and red pear. Hop flavor comes out a bit towards the finish but overall it ends fairly sweet with a warm boozy touch. Its texture is smooth but still carbonated and pleasant.

Notes: This is decent Quadruple, not my favorite but it was still interesting.